Travel, Europe!

If anyone had a dilemma as to whether the proposal of the Reform Agenda of the Government of Serbia on the road map for the European integration of Serbia, which Radar wrote about in the last issue, is a de facto withdrawal from EU membership in the long term, he received direct confirmation from President Aleksandar Vučić at the panel " Joining the Western Balkans to the EU", which was held as part of the Global Security Forum in Prague. It is good to dream, said the president of Serbia ironically, but when it comes to the EU, he is not a dreamer at all, because, as he said, "our interests differ". And he is not optimistic that any country will join the European family by 2030. "Many always see a chance, but I don't believe in it" and added a somewhat catastrophic scenario: "And what can happen in the meantime, no one knows. No one knows what the situation will be like in the EU member states until then, especially around Ukraine." So, as far as Serbia is concerned, we can already sing Balašević's song: "Travel Europe, we had a good time, we have a good time, just as we deserve .“

Nevertheless, even though Vučić gave the impression of a cynical pessimist, he did not hesitate to openly say what he actually expected from Europe. The most important thing for him is to get a unified payment area, more investors and much more foreign direct investment. And that's it! Democracy and human rights, everyone knows, do not interest him at all. So if the political interests of Serbia and Europe diverge, on the economic level, he obviously easily found a common language with them. Let's say, when he exports weapons through an intermediary to Ukraine, or when he promises lithium to Germany, or when he agrees with the French on the purchase of rockets, the construction of a subway and, for example, a modular nuclear plant... And even when he persistently refuses to impose sanctions on Russia, and opens the door wide to China investments, flirting with the four pillars of foreign policy, then he can really do whatever he wants in Serbia. He can turn most of the media into his praetorian guard, and trample the rest, insult and prevent them from working normally. He can trample the judiciary and brutally bully those who oppose him.

It can instrumentalize the police and secret services to monitor opponents and critics of the regime, compile blacklists and harass foreign and domestic citizens at the border. He can make a caricature out of the Assembly, and a circus out of the election. It can destroy political life and the meaning of multipartyism, treat non-governmental organizations effectively as foreign agencies, and arrest and intimidate activists. He can socially blackmail people, insult them, prevent them from progressing or doing business if they do not serve him. It can "admonish" the university public of the duty to respond to the call of the state because it pays them, and at the same time disqualify any autonomous opinion and personality. He can bluff that he is in favor of dialogue, and he has created a sick atmosphere in society that no one wants to talk to anyone. And all that is not enough for him, so every now and then someone screams that they want to kill him, and then he counts who and how much is defending him and measures the degree of subjugation he is satisfied with, assessing who would be the first to jump off the ship when it starts to sink.

It is sad what Aleksandar Vučić has turned Serbian society into and how much he underestimates his own people. It is also sad, after all, how he treats the members of his own party, even the ruling coalition. It is also sad that Europe turns a blind eye to all this when their economic interests coincide.

(radar.rs)